


The Mad Mother

by Stargazer_Nebula



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: And a pet fox named Phoenix :D, Dream has a weapon, Flashbacks, Paranormal events, There's a little bit of cream but since it isn't major nor a plot point its in here, Undertale aus, mad father au, possessed dolls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28027542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stargazer_Nebula/pseuds/Stargazer_Nebula
Summary: Dream still reminisces about his twin brother who passed away after a mysterious accident a few years ago.On the eve of the anniversary of his death, the child visits his mother in her lab and wishes to celebrate the day of his death by visiting his grave. At the stroke of midnight, a scream originating from Nim rips through the silent mansion, startling Dream out of his sleep. He sets out to find his mother, only to make the horrifying discovery that corpses are roaming their home.Dream thought he knew everything that went on in his mother's lab. He thought he knew everything about her relationship with Neil, the family assistant. But there are far more secrets lurking beneath the mansion and behind everything he knows.A drastic mistake has been made, one that cannot be undone. And someone must die.
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is copy-and-pasted over from my Wattpad account.
> 
> This is a Dreamtale AU inspired by/based off of the game of Mad Father. If you have played the game or watched a playthrough, please do not spoil things in the comments.

Dream shivered a bit as he walked down the hallway.

The basement of the mansion was always a bit chilly, but it got colder during the night hours. The stone hall was very dimly lit, with the faint glow of the wall-mounted candles providing just enough light for him to see where he was going. He came to a stop in front of an old wooden door, the echoes of his footsteps fading away. It was so old that the wood had started to chip and peel, and while it looked easy to break down, that wasn't the case.

He could hear the noises going on in the room behind the door. That was his mother's lab, the place where she was working all day long. She was always cooped up in there and almost never came out, so he hardly ever saw her. He could hear the sounds of her work, which were loud and would frighten anyone else, but he'd grown used to them. He couldn't quite make them out, but they sounded like groans and moans... sounds of pain and fear.

"Mother...." He began, reaching up and knocking on the door. "Mommy, are you in there?"

His knocks echoed off of the walls and back into his ears. They didn't quite sound right against such a large and old door. The noises from inside the room soon hushed down. Then the door opened up, its old iron hinges creaking as the door was swung open, with an ungodly stench blowing out of it, and a tall figure loomed far above him. That tall figure was his mother, Nim. Her glowing white eyes immediately landed on her child, and even though she was wearing the white mask that doctors had, he could tell she was frowning.

"Mommy!" Dream beamed brightly.

"Dream, how many times have I told you not to come down here?" She asked him, her sternness clear in her voice. "You should have been asleep two hours ago."

"I'm sorry, mommy...." He apologized, gripping the bottom of his light blue pajama shirt. "But... um... I'm too scared to sleep on my own...."

"Dream... you mustn't worry about that. You're never alone," she sighed, kneeling down to lift her child's head up. "Your late brother is always watching over you... okay?"

"Yes, mama...." He nodded.

"Now please, listen to what I tell you from now on." She stood back up.

"Yes, mama...." He mumbled.

"Good boy." She smiled under her mask, patting his head gently.

Dream turned away from her, starting to walk back the way he'd come from. But before he could get very far, something clicked in his head. He whirled back to face his mother, who hadn't moved from her spot. Most likely to make sure he wouldn't just wait outside of the lab for her again, like he did that one night. It had been around one in the morning when she finally came out, and he'd gotten grounded for a week.

"Mommy, tomorrow's...." Dream trailed off, hoping she would remember.

"Yes, the anniversary of his death." She nodded, a saddened look coming onto her face. "We'll visit his grave together. We can also stop by Mrs. Green's bakery, if you'd like."

"Okay!" He beamed, smiling as he perked up a little. "Thank you, mommy."

"Now back to bed, please," she said. "I'll be resting soon as well."

Dream nodded and turned around, starting to walk away again. This time, Nim didn't wait until he was out of sight. She turned on her shoes and returned to her lab, shutting the heavy door. The young child paused in his steps when he heard the clicking and sliding sounds of the metal locks on the other side. He glanced over his shoulder, looking back, his smile being replaced by a frown. But it didn't take long for his to obey his mother's wishes and keep moving forward.

"S-Stop!" An unfamiliar voice cried out, a bit muffled by the thick stone walls, but still cutting the silence. It caused Dream to take pause again. "Noooo! Help me! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!"

The sound of a roaring engine and saw blade came into his hearing as well. He hardly paid any attention to it before heading back the way he came. He blocked out the bloody screams that were undeniably filled with pain. Out of all the sounds he could hear, he focused on the echoes of his footsteps as much as he could. Chainsaws and screams were not what he needed to hear before going to bed.

Dream knew his mother's secret. To the people of the village, his mother was the Guardian of the Tree of Feelings. The Tree of Feelings allowed every living thing-- be it human, monster, plant, or animal-- to have positive and negative feelings. But she was also a scientist, something she'd always had a passion for. She loved reading books and research articles, as well as conducting her own trials. She always spent all of her time locked up in that lab of hers.

He's always heard things from that lab. The screams of animals, humans, and monsters. The roaring of chainsaws, the beeping of machines, the murmurs and muffled chatter of his mother and her work assistant. Even when he was much younger than he was now, he'd always knew what his mother was doing. Or at least had a pretty good idea of it. But he always pretended that he didn't notice or hear anything, that he didn't know anything about her secret career. He faked his ignorance and innocence the whole time. All because he loved his mother.

That wasn't the only secret he knew. His mother's assistant was a young monster named Neil. He'd lost his arm in an accident that Dream didn't really know about, but his mother had been kind enough to build him a prosthetic replacement. Whenever he and Nightmare weren't around, or they thought they weren't around, the two of them would get... rather intimate with each other.

_____

"Neil, you seemed rather distraught during today's experiment. Is something troubling you?"

"Doctor... they're aware of our... relationship."

"Hm? What does it matter?"

"I don't think they're very fond of me. That's the problem. I don't want to upset them."

"The boys will be 11 soon. It's a troublesome age to be sure.... be kind to them, please. Make sure that they are never harmed. They are my most precious...."

_____

Dream was laying wide awake in his bed, staring up at his ceiling.

His room wasn't much of anything special. It had pale yellow walls and a checkered floor of pale and slightly darker blues, with a single eight-panel bay window that had pale yellow curtains. There was a tall bookshelf in the corner that had all of his favorite stories, as well as some textbooks to help with his educational progression. There was a wooden chest by his door that had his name painted onto it in orange, with his favorite yellow cape neatly folded on top of it. There was a wooden dresser on one of the walls and a nightstand next to his bed, which held his lamp and alarm clock. There were toys in the bay window and a soft pet bed for his fox, Phoenix.

"It's already midnight...." Dream whispered as he turned over, looking at the alarm clock. "So now... today's the day brother went to Heaven...."

Dream tossed the blanket off of him, moving his legs over the side of the bed. He deeply missed the way things used to be. All that he wanted was to be like other children. Like the ones who he saw playing tag and other fun games in the village, like the ones he read about in his stories. Normal children had healthy, happy families. Normal children went to school and had friends. Normal children made mud pies, played in leaf piles in the fall, and had snowball fights in the winter.

Normal children didn't have dead brothers.

"I can never sleep when I think about Nighty...." He muttered to himself.

He stood up from his bed and crossed the room, heading to the bay window. Set in the center of it was one of his most, if not his most, treasured belongings. He delicately picked up the golden picture frame, staring down at the photo in it. It was a portrait of him and his brother, back when they were younger, and he had been alive. His purple eyes were smart and full of youth back then.

"What should I do, Nighty?" He asked the picture, as though it would respond. "I do love mommy, but... he scares me."

"He's always looking at me with those eyes. I hate him, but I know how much mommy cares for him. If they got married, I guess he would be my dad. We never had one of those. But would they have children like every other married couple in the village? Would they have a son, who would be my new brother? I don't want to have a new brother. I don't need a new brother. There was only one brother for me in the world..."

Dream's voice dropped as he stared down at the picture. His grip had started to tighten on it, so he was glad he caught himself. He didn't want to damage it, god forbid break it. He'd never forgive himself. He hugged the picture to his chest, yellow-tinted tears rolling down his face.

"Nighty... why'd you have to go?"

He placed the golden frame back onto the bay window, reaching up and scrubbing away at his tears. He glanced at the toys he'd placed in the window too. There was his favorite teddy bear, the one he'd had since he was just a little baby and used to sleep with at night. There was also an excellently crafted doll that his mother had gifted him for one of his birthdays. The light green dress it was wearing was old and worn, but the doll was still beautiful and beloved. When he was younger, he'd thought it looked like a real person.

He walked over to his bookshelf, his eyes scanning over the tightly packed rows. Maybe a little reading would help him fall asleep. He stood on his tippy toes as he ran a finger along the spines of the books, murmuring their titles under his breath as he went.

"'The Dark Quartet', 'The Red-Eyed Stranger'...." He listed.

As his finger ran along the last one, something fell from the top of the bookshelf. It made a clink sound as it hit the floor, bouncing a few spaces away from him. He stepped towards it and crouched down, picking the thing up in his hands. It was a small object that was shaped like a curved teardrop, with a smaller pale blue crescent shape in the middle of the roundest part. In his hands it gave off a faint luminous blue glow. It looked like some kind of gem, but what such a pretty thing was doing at the top of his bookshelf was beyond him.

Dream stood back up, closing his fingers around the tiny gem. He looked over at his pet fox, Phoenix, and smiled. He loved his pet fox. But he tensed and brought the gem closer to him, as though the faint glow from it would warm him up. The room had gotten much colder in just a few seconds, which Dream found odd because his mother was very strict with the temperature of the mansion. He went back over to his bed, sitting the gem on the nightstand, and crawled back under the covers. Even under them, he shivered.

"Good night... Phoenix.... Nighty...."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is copy-and-pasted over from my Wattpad account.
> 
> This is a Dreamtale AU inspired by/based off of the game of Mad Father. If you have played the game or watched a playthrough, please do not spoil things in the comments.

_It was a warm spring evening._

_It was one of the rare occasions that Nim had come out of her laboratory for more than five minutes. That meant that white doctor mask wasn't covering the lower half of her face. She had a very pretty smile and a very lovely face. She and Dream were outside in one of the flower fields. She was picking flowers and weaving them together, listening to the song that Dream was singing as he brushed Phoenix's fur._

_"Your singing is getting better, Dream," she said._

_"Mama, could you look this way?" He asked, setting down the brush._

_"Just a moment, dear."_

_Nim grabbed the last few of the flowers, weaving them into her project. Once she was done, she held up the finished piece. She smiled with satisfaction at the end result. She turned and placed it on top of Dream's head, and it rested perfectly with his golden crown. Well, almost perfectly. It was a little lopsided. Dream looked back at her, reaching up and touching it gently._

_"A flower crown?" He breathed. "Does it look good on me, mommy?"_

_"Yes, I think it suits you very well." She nodded. "It really brings your eyes out."_

_"Yay!" He beamed, doing a little spin. "Thank you, mommy!"_

_Nim's smile took on a hint of sadness. "I'm sorry I can't always play with you."_

_"Mommy...." Dream started. "It's alright! I'm glad I could play with you today!"_

_Phoenix made a sound and caught their attention. Dream turned his head and saw his twin brother approaching them, though at a rather slow pace. He had a tendency to walk slower than others. Their mother always said that it made him look more graceful and mature. Dream could never walk that slow all day long._

_"You two were playing?" Nightmare questioned, a small smile on his face._

_"Nighty!" Dream chirped, running up to his brother. "Look, look! Mommy made me a flower crown!"_

_"It looks great on you, Dream." He nodded. "So you two played all day?"_

_"Yeah!" He confirmed, looking back over to Nim. "We should do this again, mommy!"_

_"Yes, we should." She brightened at the idea. "And next time, your brother should join in."_

_"Well, I look forward to it..."_

_They were so happy back then. Sure, Neil was there, but even so, the three of them were still a happy family. But Nightmare had disappeared one day, and when he asked Nim about it, she said that he'd been called away by the College of Arcadia for important business. Dream knew that Nightmare had been enrolled in the College due to his advanced magical abilities, even from a young age. Two weeks after that, a letter came from the College informing them of his death._

_And the happiness they had shattered._

_______

A scream of pain and agony tore through the air.

Dream's eyes snapped open, his body shooting upright as he was startled from his sleep. He clutched the blanket tightly as he sat there, gasping for air to attempt to steady his breathing. The scream echoed in his head, and only when he realized what it was did he take action. Hastily throwing the covers off of him, he staggered to his feet.

"Oh no, something must've happened!" He worried. "I'll go check on mommy!"

Dream crossed the room to his door, grabbing the doorknob. He wasn't sure why, but he hesitated when he grabbed hold of it. The room was still ice cold, and now there was a really bad feeling in his chest. Shaking it off, he threw his door opened and entered the hallway. His bare feet pounded against the red carpet as he headed down, but he soon came to a stop. There were ghostly echoes from that direction, the one he had to go in.

Bloody handprints and footprints appeared almost instantly, leading right up to Dream's feet. He was so shocked by their sudden appearance that he fell back, letting out a cry of surprise and slight fear. The lights in the hallway went out, with the only thing lighting up the area now being the moonlight pouring in through the windows.

Now it was Dream's turn to let out a scream of terror, crawling away from the shambling figures before him. They had sickly pale skin that looked as though it was rotting and turning green. One had thick black circles around their bulging eyes, their mouth sewn shut with similar stitches circling the middle of their neck. The other's back was completely broken, their body being bent back in a way that was disgustingly unnatural. He couldn't tell if they were thin trails of blood or cracks along their faces.

"S-Stay away..!" He cried out, standing on his feet.

"This way!"

Dream whirled around for a moment, facing the opposite end of the hallway. Had a voice come from that direction? He couldn't be sure, but he let out another sound of distress as he heard the zombies getting closer.

"Come this way!" The voice called out again, this time more urgently.

Dream wasted no time in running down that direction, away from the shambling corpses. He turned the corner that was at the end of it, spotting who he assumed was the owner of the voice. He was taller than Dream and looked like a skeleton as well. His clothes were primarily black and white. Dream didn't think he'd ever seen this person before in his life, so it was beyond him how they got into their home.

"Who are you?" He asked, wanting to be polite still.

"This way," the mysterious person replied.

"Who...?" He started again, thinking maybe they didn't hear him.

"Stay with me," they said in the same monotone voice.

Dream frowned a bit. This conversation was boring him, and this person was a complete stranger to him. Both his mother and his brother had warned him about talking to strangers. His mother had screamed in clear pain, there were two zombies chasing after him, and now a mystery person in his house. The mystery person walked further down the hall, but whirled around when they noticed he wasn't following.

"I said this way!"

Dream took a few steps back, his eyes going wide and his jaw slack. The eye he'd seen was completely fine and normal, but the one he hadn't been able to see... it was missing and looked melted. That whole half of his face looked melted and cracked, and it reached down to his shoulder too.

"Nyahhh!!!" Dream cried out, running in the opposite direction.

Behind him, he heard the mysterious skeleton swear loudly. He was never allowed to swear. The one time he did swear, Nightmare stuck a bar of soap in his mouth. But as he turned the corner, he saw that the shambling corpses were closer than before. Shaking his head and breathing rapidly, he dashed back into his room. Slamming the door shut behind him, he made sure to lock it.

When he turned around, he was met with another mysterious stranger, and this time in his own bedroom!

This new one was also a skeleton with white bones, like the other one. They were wearing a white shirt with a short brown jacket over it, long brown pants that were looser the further they went down, and there were light blue straps hanging from their hips. There were leggings of some kind reaching out from under their pants, and cut off halfway across their feet, leaving their toes exposed. There was a black sash of some kind strung across their torso, and an oversized brown scarf was hung around their shoulders.

"These are interesting books..." The figure murmured to themself, looking at Dream's bookshelf. "Do you like books?"

Dream tensed up. He desperately searched for anything nearby that he could use to defend himself with, but found nothing. Of course the night when paranormal activity decided to happen was also the night that he'd cleaned his room up. He swallowed the pit in his throat and spoke, trying to sound brave.

"Who are you!?" He demanded.

"No need to be so aggressive." The person turned towards him. "I'm here to help."

"To help...?" He repeated, momentarily lost by this person's looks.

The mysterious person appeared to be a male like himself. There was a black ink blot on his cheek, but the thing that stood out the most had to be his eyes. One of them was a blue circle and the other was a yellow star. Dream knew that heterochromia eyes were a thing, but he'd never actually seen them with his own eyes. He'd also never seen someone with such unique pupils, either.

"You can call me Ink," the person introduced himself. "I hope to get to know you."

Dream watched silently as Ink turned around, looking at the framed picture in his bay window.

"This sure seems dangerous, with all those dead people around the house," he said casually.

"So they were corpses?" Dream asked. "Those... things back there? They're like evil creatures from stories...."

"Yeeaaah..... it's a curse," he coughed. "What you saw were the dead bodies of your mom's test subjects. And since they're so angry at her, the curse let them come back to take revenge on her."

"What!?" Dream shrieked, eyes widening. "So mommy's in danger!? I have to save her!!"

"Um.... and why is that?" Ink asked, making Dream pause in his tracks. "She's killed a lot of people all for the sake of her experiments, and by society's standards someone like that must be killed. Surely you've realized her true nature by now."

Dream thought about what he said for a moment. It was true that he knew what his mother was doing in her lab all these days and nights. He'd heard the screams and howls, the cries and pleas for mercy. But he couldn't bring himself to abandon his mother like that. She was the only family he had left. And Nightmare wouldn't want him to leave her to suffer like that, either. He clenched his fists, looking back up at Ink.

However, to his surprise, Ink was no longer there.

"Um... h-hello?" He called out, wondering if Ink hid somewhere. "Ink? Are you still there?"

No response came back to him. Dream shakily crossed the room to get to his dresser, pulling open one of the drawers. Inside, all of his clothes were neatly folded and put away. He pulled out a light blue shirt and darker blue pants, throwing them onto the messy covers of his bed. He pulled his pajamas off and threw them to the side, not caring about where they landed. He pulled his pants up and his shirt over his head. He grabbed the gem off of his nightstand and slipped it into one of his shirt's pockets. He pulled his boots on and headed over to the wooden chest, picking up his yellow cape.

He remembered when he and Nightmare were younger, they'd painted this cloth together. It was on a dark and stormy night when he couldn't fall asleep, and when that happened he usually went to his brother's room, which was right down the hall from his. Nightmare had sent him back to bed with it, promising him that it would always protect him from danger. Remembering his promise, Dream fastened it around his shoulders and tied it in the front.

He threw the door to his bedroom open, a fierce look of determination on his face.

"I'm coming, mommy!" He boldly announced, though kept his voice down to avoid any unwanted attention.

When the door closed behind him, his bedroom was left in silence. Only with him gone did Ink reappear in the middle of the room, staring at the closed door. He had his arms crossed over his chest, though there was a curious smile on his face. One of his pupils had taken on the shape of a yellow exclamation mark, while the other was a green question mark.

"How interesting...." He chuckled to himself. "I guess he doesn't understand their sorrows yet...."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is copy-and-pasted over from my Wattpad account.
> 
> This is a Dreamtale AU inspired by/based off of the game of Mad Father. If you have played the game or watched a playthrough, please do not spoil things in the comments.

_It was nine thirty at night._

_Dream's bedtime was set at nine o'clock sharp, but he'd begged and begged Nightmare to let him stay up just a little bit longer. His twin brother begrudgingly caved in and agreed, but they both lost track of time. What was only supposed to be ten extra minutes turned into thirty. But Nightmare didn't get angry with him. Nightmare never got angry with him._

_"The red-eyed stranger gave Frisk the power to curse others. And Frisk said..." Nightmare read to him. "'Thank you, red-eyed stranger. Now I can get my revenge.'"_

_"Hey, Nighty?" Dream piped up, though he didn't stop petting Phoenix's back._

_"Yes, Dream?" He replied, looking over at him._

_"Um... what's mommy always doing in the basement?" He asked. "She never has time to play with us anymore. She always has Neil make us breakfast, lunch, and dinner."_

_Nightmare was quiet, and for a moment Dream worried that he'd said something wrong. He knew they weren't supposed to speak poorly of others, especially someone who helped them, such as Neil. But he missed when their mother would take care of them and would cook for them. He wanted to know what she was up to down in the basement, and why they could never watch her doing her experiments._

_"It's... a very difficult job...." Nightmare began slowly, sighing. "You'll understand when you're older, Dream."_

_"I wanna be older soon, then..." Dream mumbled. "Hey, wait a minute! We're the same age! Why do you know something about this that I don't?"_

_"It's... complicated," he said. "I'll explain to you some other day, okay?"_

_Dream stayed silent, pulling Phoenix closer to him. Nightmare looked back down at the book he was reading to Dream. However, he glanced back at the boy on the bed._

_"Dream, whatever happens, you shouldn't hate our mother," he said, firmness in his voice._

_"Nighty, what's the matter?" Dream asked, taken back by his brother's unexpected words. "Of course I wouldn't hate mommy!"_

_".... I see...." He responded, a small smile forming._

_"Nighty, do you not like mommy?" He asked._

_"No... it's nothing like that.... I'm just like you." He shook his head. "I love mother just as much."_

_"Oh, that's good." He smiled._

_"She can just be a bit.... unpredictable at times," he continued. "So, let's support each other no matter what. Promise?"_

_"Yeah! I promise you, brother!"_

_"Now, back to the story...."_

_______

_Nighty, whatever happens, I love mommy.... so don't worry, I'll find her and save her!_

Dream figured that the first place he should check was her laboratory. Even though she'd said she would be going to bed, it wasn't uncommon for her to stay in the lab all night long. Poor mother... she was always overworking herself in there. If he'd thought the neglect he got from her was bad, he couldn't even begin to imagine what her self-neglect was doing. He didn't want his mother to be unhappy or unhealthy.

He headed down the way he had originally planned on going. Entering the entrance hall, he padded down the long staircase, careful to not miss a step and fall down them. He grabbed the end of the railing and swung around it, darting into the central hallway. But before he could get very far from there, he skidded to a stop. There was a doll laying in the middle of the walkway, dressed in frilly pink clothes.

"A doll....?" Dream spoke softly, crouching down and picking it up. "If I get going, I might've stepped on it...."

He adjusted the little hat on its head, brushing the dust and dirt off of its beautiful skirt. He had no idea what a doll was doing just laying on the ground like that, especially somewhere that it could get stepped on easily. His mother valued all of her dolls, and so he did too. He looked around for somewhere to place the doll, and settled with putting it close to the stone statue against the wall.

He pushed the doors open and headed into the passage that led to the basement. But when he turned the corner, his path was blocked. He looked up and down the large pile of discarded dolls. Some of them were missing their eyes and others were missing clothes or other limbs. Dream wondered if these were failed dolls and his mother didn't want them to be out on display in the doll room. Whatever the case, this massive heap wasn't there when he was down here earlier. There weren't ever really any dolls in this part of the mansion to begin with.

"Hm.... I need to think of a way to get to mommy's lab..." Dream mumbled. "I can't climb over them, and there's too many to push...."

Dream shook his head, turning back around to head back upstairs. As he was walking up the staircase, he thought he heard something hit the ground behind him, but he didn't look back to check. He looked to the side as he heard what sounded like tiny footsteps, and was horrified to see that the well-dressed doll he'd picked up just moments ago was now walking. It headed to the left side of the room, letting out the ghostly giggle of a feminine voice, disappearing into the other room.

"Why was that doll moving....?" Dream wondered as he gripped his cape. "Is that part of the curse, too....?"

He didn't really know what to do right now. He knew he had to go and make sure his mother was alright, but... he was scared. He wanted to go back up to his room, hide under his covers, and go to sleep like this was all some bad dream. That would be a little awkward if Ink was still in there, but he didn't have a place in their home anyway.

 _No, Dream! You have to go and save mommy!_ He scolded himself. _You're a big, brave boy!_

Dream decided to follow after the walking doll, going back out into the entrance hallway. He caught sight of something falling down the staircase, giving off the same glow as the gem he'd found earlier. He chased after it, but two doors swung open. He briefly recognized the figures that crawled out to be the ones he'd first encountered. With no time to stop and admire this gem, he dashed back up the staircase, just barely avoiding the clutches of the corpses.

He ran back into the east wing of the upper floor. He took a moment to rest against the door that was next to his bedroom, only to let out a cry of surprise when the knob twisted and the door flew open. Another corpse was approaching him, possibly alerted by the sound of the door opening. With the small glimpse he caught of her, she seemed to be a bunny monster of some kind.

"GIVE!! GIVE HER BACK!!" The bunny monster screamed. "GIVE BACK! MY DAUGHTER!"

Before she could reach Dream, however, she faded away. Closing the door behind him, he crossed the room. He was surprised that this door was unlocked, though it was probably related to the curse in some way. This room had been locked ever since Nightmare died. It was his room, after all. As he wandered to the other end of the room, the bunny monster's spirit reappeared by him.

"Give back my daughter...."

Dream ignored the bunny monster's ghost, but made a small mental note to try and reunite the two. He had no idea how he'd do that, let alone what her daughter even looked like. But he could at least try. He didn't like to see families suffer, after all. He couldn't imagine the pain of losing a child, and he'd thought it was painful to lose a brother. Another part of him scolded him for even considering the possibility of someone feeling more emotional pain than his grief for Nightmare.

Nightmare had always kept a spare key to the archives in his bedroom. It was one of his favorite rooms in the entire mansion, after all. And sure enough, there it was on his nightstand. The small metal key felt odd and cool in his hand. He hurried to get out of his bedroom, feeling an odd chill going down his spine. It didn't feel right to be in Nightmare's bedroom when he was dead.

"Okay, the archives..." Dream muttered to himself, walking down the hallway. "I should go there next..."

He stuck the spare key into the lock and turned it, hearing the familiar click. He pushed the door open, being greeted by a messy clutter of loose papers and books. He wondered if the spirits raised by the curse did this. His mother and his brother were very serious about keeping the house clean and tidy. They most likely would've lost their minds if they saw the huge mess in this room.

He picked up one of the smaller stacks of books close to him, carrying it over to one of the bookshelves. As he started to put them on the shelves, one book in particular caught his eye. The cover of it was so worn and dusty that he couldn't make out the title or who the author of it was. Opening it up, he found it was a book about live experimentation. He flipped through the pages until he came to one where there was a body covered in stitches, with a slip of paper wedged between the pages.

An icy chill tapped him on the arm, causing him to turn to the side rather quickly. There was a child there. Her eyes were pitch black voids and so was her mouth, no teeth or tongue showing. She didn't look like she was wearing any clothes, either. There were two holes at the top of her head, like stitches that were ripped open. She was reaching out towards him, tears rolling down her face, her voice sounding strained and weak.

"Mama... mama...." The monster child sobbed, inching closer to him. "It hurts... help me.... h e l p....."

Dream looked at her with pity. Such a poor thing, to have been separated from her mother. He didn't want to know what that pain was like. She definitely looked like she was in pain, but he didn't know how to help a ghost with that. The child latched onto him, catching him off guard.

Dream's head tilted back, a cry of shock escaping him as the world went white.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I uploaded this on my Wattpad on January 17th. And I completely forgot that I had it on here too.

_The room was very poorly lit and was extremely cluttered._

_It reeked of medicinal smells and metal, that kind of coppery smell that usually told you something was wrong. A single light was above a wooden table that had several reddish stains. On that same table was a child, her arms stretched out in a T-formation and her legs in an upside down V-formation. Metal cuffs were enclosed around her wrists and ankles, shackled down to the table via tightly secured bolts._

_Standing at the side of the table was none other than Neil. He was staring down at the child with a blank, unreadable, stoic expression. It was almost like he was trying to scare the kid out of any ideas of escaping, though given the secureness of the bindings and the poor condition of the child, it was doubtful she'd even make it very far. Standing in the back of the room, sorting through different chemicals and supplies lined up on a table, was Nim._

_"I wanna go hoome! I wanna see mamaa!!" Tears flowed from the child's eyes._

_"Don't worry, I will take you to her," Neil said with a smile, trying (and failing) to provide comfort. "Once this is all over, you'll see your mom again."_

_"Nooo! I wanna go now!!" The child sobbed. "Mama! MAMAA!!!!!"_

_Neil looked over his shoulder and saw Nim approaching, and moved to the side without a word. Nim's eyes, while always enveloped in bright light, had an odd glare of light that made her look sinister. A surgical mask was pulled over her nose, a clean white compared to the bloody stains in the room. In her hands was a syringe filled with a red liquid._

_"Don't fret, everything will be fine." Her voice didn't sound motherly or warm. "We just wish to test this medicine. It may hurt a bit, but.... not to worry. You'll soon feel much relief."_

_"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" The child had gone into hysterics now, wildly shaking her head as she tried to resist._

_Nim inserted the needle of the syringe into the child's body._

"Stop...." Dream whispered, bearing witness to it all via the ghost's powers.

_"Nn.... ah.... ahhhHHH!!!"_

"Stop! I don't want this!!"

_Everything was starting to fade in and out. Nim and Neil watched with blank faces as the child's body shook and convulsed, foaming at the mouth as her eyes rolled into the back of her head._

"STOOOOOOP!"

~~~~

The archives came back into Dream's vision. He was back in reality and out of that dark memory that didn't belong to him.

It didn't take long for him to realize the corpse of the monster child was still wrapped around him. With a horrified shriek he pushed it off of him, letting it hit the ground with a gross sound. The corpse shook on the ground a bit, a low moan coming from it as she called out for her mother. As her cries faded, her body did too. And in her place was a pendant. Dream crouched down to pick it up, holding it above him to get a better look.

When he stepped back into the hallway, he heard a low groaning sound. He quickly hid behind one of the statues, peeking out from the side of it to find the source. From the other end of the hall, an abnormally tall doll was pushing a wheeled cart down. Its footsteps echoed off of the tile flooring and back into Dream's ears. Given the violent behavior of the corpses and their unpredictability, he didn't want to come out of hiding and take his chances.

But the doll went right past the statue he'd hidden behind, going to the other end of the hallway. Using the cart it plowed through the fence-like barricade that had blocked off the rest of the hallway. Once he was sure it was out of sight, or out least hearing range, Dream crept out from his hiding place. Standing by the corner, he peeked around to see what the doll was up to.

But it had vanished, leaving the cart abandoned. On the cart was a brightly gleaming object that hadn't been there before. Or, if it had been, then he hadn't been able to see it from his hiding spot. Curious, he approached it. Yet another gem. But as soon as he grabbed onto this one, he felt a sharp pain in his side. He turned his head and found himself face-to-face to the doll... who had just stabbed him.

Best not to go back there.

The mother of that monster child had been the one he'd found in Nightmare's room, if what he remembered was right. He felt that eerie chill again as he walked in, but he tried not to pay any mind to it. He walked towards where he remembered seeing the woman, holding the pendant out. As she came into view, his breath caught in his throat. The woman looked at the pendant closely, inspecting it. Her shoulders slumped as a sad look came onto her face.

"This is her pendant...." She sorrowfully confirmed.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him, making him turn around. The monster child was there, walking towards them. Dream stepped over to the side, so there was a clear path between the two. Best not to anger the spirits of a frightened child and a grieving mother.

"Mama...." The child whispered, arms outstretched.

"Collina!" The mother gasped, eyes lighting up at the sight of her.

"Mama...." She repeated.

The two rushed to meet each other, falling into an embrace. Dream watched their reunion in silence. The lights in the room flickered, and then the pair was gone. Replaced by another gem. Adding it to his collection, he went over to the dial-lock safe in the room. He didn't really know quite what Nightmare kept in here, and he felt bad about having to snoop. He searched around in his pockets for the slip of paper he'd taken from that one book, unfolding it once he found it.

But he was disappointed with what he saw. Instead of it just being the code, it was a list of clues to deciphering it. Of course Nightmare wouldn't have been dumb enough to just write the passcode to his belongings and stick it in a book in the archives, but he had a little hope that things would've worked out in his favor.

_**1: Chandeliers in the Entrance Hall** _

**_2: Changing room hats - bathroom planters = ?_ **

**_3: Red dolls in the doll room_ **

**_4: Barrels in the cafeteria_ **

Dream internally sighed. He wasn't very good at math or keeping track of numbers. If he had a way of writing the numbers down, that would be easier for him to keep track of things. He looked around the room for a pencil or a pen, and saw one on the desk. He gladly picked it up and slid it into his pocket, even if it was an odd fit. He'd have to find something for better storage that he could take with him. Maybe a backpack or something? But where would he find one of those? He'd been homeschooled his whole life and the magic school that Nightmare went to didn't require backpacks, so he'd never needed one either.

_I should go and figure out the answers. Mommy needs my help and I can't waste time._


End file.
